Tessa's POV:

Several seconds went by without an impact, and I peeked one eye open.

"Is it over?"

Soranto moved one arm to tap a few buttons. "The worst of it. Some smaller pieces might still hit us. The shields held, although they are below ten percent."

Another jolt echoed his words, making Soranto hit a lot more buttons. I climbed up to his shoulder pad to let him use both hands.

"The other shuttle also survived."

My eyes widened – one of the Votaks managed to escape.

Soranto pushed a button. "This is Soranto. My shields are low, and I have a Votak in pursuit. Immediate assistance require-" his voice cut off as another jolt threw him against the seat restraints. I nearly lost my grip from the force of the impact.

"Soranto, both shuttles are showing a larger lifeform and a smaller one. Please confirm you are the one in the lead."

My heart dropped further, if the other shuttle held a large and small lifeform, then it was undoubtedly Claas – the ringleader – and Apus chasing us. If they saw the Kymari coming to help, they could flee and continue their madness in another place – possibly exposing the dragonets for what we were as a distraction in the process.

"Confirmed. We are the ones trying to escape."

The star-spangled blackness ahead of our shuttle suddenly shimmered as a small spaceship dropped its stealth cloak and whizzed past us, firing blasts of bright pink energy towards something behind us. Another impact rocked the shuttle, this one much stronger, nearly dislodging me even though I was braced for another strike.

Soranto tapped more buttons and exhaled in relief. "That fighter used his strongest weapons to stop the Votak from attacking us. It looks like the strikes triggered some sort of self-destruct mechanism. They won't be able to recover anything from that wreckage."

The communication device activated once more. "Soranto, you never told me that you moved into this backwater area for this kind of excitement. And here I thought I would see the most fighting when I went to the borders to clash with hostile forces."

Soranto blinked and reached for the transmitter button. "Ravin? Is that you?"

Laughter came over the speakers. "Indeed! It is, cousin! In fact, half of the family is within an hour's flight. Well, an hour if you have decent shuttle. Where did you pick up that piece of garbage?"

"Stowaways don't always get to demand the best vessels. I'm sure someone will enjoy taking this thing apart."

"Alter your heading to match mine. I'll escort you to the nearest battleship. Keep an eye on your scanners. We've had some unfriendly ships trying to take advantage of the unguarded borders."

"The scanners on this thing are almost primitive. You'll have to be the one watching."

"I am, although now that the moon has exploded and I have you within sight, most of the armadas are breaking up into groups to push whatever followed us back to where they came from."

The Kymari ship flew in front of us for some time before another ship came into view. This battleship was massive; it made the one that Soranto had fixed look like a toy. I had never seen any spaceship this large before. As we got closer, I could see dozens of smaller ships coming and going from it.

A different voice spoke to us. "Soranto, the twenty-third bay door on our lower left-hand side is opening for you to dock in."

"Thank you."

Soranto changed his course, flying alongside the battleship until the open bay door was within sight. Despite his earlier criticisms of this shuttle, he managed to enter the docking space and land gracefully. He powered down the shuttle while the docking area sealed and repressurized.

He removed the seat restraints before unlocking and opening the shuttle door. The air smelled almost sweet after being in the shuttle for so long. Soranto got out, being careful not to jounce me too much as he climbed down to the ground.

Two Kymari were already walking over to us.

Soranto inclined his head respectfully. "Father, this is a pleasant surprise."

I gaped slightly at the man, unable to believe that this was Soranto's father. The stern, composed face in the pictures didn't match the relieved smile I currently saw.

"Not as pleasantly surprised as I am to see that you and your companion are apparently unharmed. The medics are already waiting. Do you need anything for your companion? I have already sent Adeline a message that you made it here."

"A quick scan for Tessa would be appreciated, although I believe she is unharmed. Some fresh fruit from the fire lizards' dietary list would be welcome. I'd also appreciate a temporary wrist comm."

"I will meet you in the medical bay with fruit and a wrist comm," the other Kymari said, before turning and leaving.

Soranto began walking beside his father, who looked at me in curiosity.

"So, this is Tessa?"

"Yes," Soranto replied, glancing at me.

Perking up my ear tufts, I trilled at his father. I might as well make a good first impression.

"She looks like quite the charmer. I am impressed at how far you went to retrieve her. Some would have let their injuries prevent them from going to the extremes that you did." His father had likely noticed his son's slight limp and taken note of the handful of scratches and bruises that decorated his skin.

"Thank you, Father. I would do it again, and more, if it let me rescue her – although I hope that this won't be a repeated experience."

His father chuckled. "I hope that as well. Both for your sake and mine. Your wife has a rather strong personality when she is riled up. Are you aware that she has an ion phaser?"

"I thought I destroyed that..."

"You might also want to talk with her about the stun-lock bracelet she was wearing."

"Her brother gave her that. The device is keyed so it won't harm myself or Maria, although I'll have to add Tessa to the safe list. How soon can I get a ride back to my family?"

He made a slight face. "That may take a day or so. There is currently a small war going on between here and there. Many of the lowlifes that skulked along the border followed the patrollers here. The good news is that we have a lot of fighters in this area of space, so we're pushing them back quickly, but we aren't going to risk running a shuttle through this section of the galaxy until it has been declared as clear."

"What are the odds of me talking a dozen fighters into escorting a larger shuttle? I'm sure that other people are looking to go there, and there is a lot of room in outer space to avoid the areas with any fighting."

"Even if a shuttle does brave the journey, you won't be on it."

Soranto looked at his father in confusion. "Why not?"

"Because Drae will be here shortly – if he isn't onboard this warship already – and he has orders from myself, Adeline, and Elder Dairno to prevent you from doing something so foolish. This does involve your little friend's welfare, you know."

Soranto's shoulders immediately slumped slightly in defeat. I rubbed my head against the side of his cheek with a croon, trying to cheer him up. It was only my presence that was preventing him from going home to his wife and child at this moment.

He reached up to stroke my wings, although I wasn't sure if he was trying to reassure me or seek a bit of comfort from me. I took a step closer and leaned against his neck and chin as I began thrumming comfortingly. The sound vibrated through my entire body and was loud enough that Soranto's father glanced over in surprise.

We walked the rest of the way to the medical area like that. Upon entering the reception area, we were immediately ushered into the back by a man and woman. I assumed they were the medical staff here by their uniforms.

"Please step into the scanner," the woman requested.

Soranto walked between two posts and turned to face the others. A bright white light shone from the two posts, startling me into flaring my wings.

"Easy, Tessa. It's just a scanner."

I snorted and chittered as I folded my wings. How was I supposed to know it was going to do that?

"It was actually helpful that she spread her wings when she did." The man said, spinning a hologram around by touching it with his fingers. The image of a skeleton lifting a set of jointed bones above its long neck, spine, and tail caught my attention and I stared at it. That was what my bones had been doing when I had flared my wings.

"Her muscles appear undamaged as well," the woman added. "Pulled muscles and strains may not show up though. We don't have any in-depth comparison files on hand – just a few old scans from some of the other fire lizards."

"You aren't as lucky, though." The man said. "One rib is cracked and two others have a slight fissure. You must have taken quite a blow for there to be such injuries under armor like that."

"Let's just say that I'm glad I went with the higher quality armor. I don't want to know how well the basic types would have fared in those explosions."

"You'll have to get the joints in the side replaced in case they were weakened. Verdi, care to enlighten us as to the rest of his injuries?"

"I'm sending a copy of the full list to him electronically, but, in essence, he has a sprained ankle, numerous pulled muscles, and even more bruises than what are beginning to show. There doesn't appear to be any damage to the major organs, although he might have a bit of a concussion. Nothing that a week or so of rest shouldn't fix."

"If they think I'm just going to let you rest, they are very much mistaken."

The corner of Soranto's lips quirked up. Apparently, he needed more practice in keeping a straight face. The door behind us opened, and I trilled a welcome at Drae. He was limping worse than Soranto, although his keen eyes were already examining the two of us.

Soranto began walking forward to meet him. "Drae, I'm glad to see you alive. How is Sipar?"

"He is annoying the medical team with requests for them to let him join the fighters. It will be a week or so before his skin heals for him to be able to wear armor and even think about resuming his duties. The fireproof armor saved his life though."

I stared blankly at Drae, wondering if this was the same guard that had spoken just one sentence over the course of several weeks. Was it possible that he would talk if someone asked him a question? Or had this situation thrown him off-balance enough to break his habit of silence?

Drae passed Soranto a container of fruit and a rather plain-looking wrist comm.

"Thanks," Soranto said, before glancing at the two medical staff. "Am I cleared to leave?"

"As long as you sit and rest. Take these pills and jar of salve. There are several spare rooms down the hallway," the woman replied. "You can pick one for the duration of your stay."

"Thank you."

We filed out of the medical area as the four of us went in search of an empty room.